I am wanting a walking varminter rifle, and have already figured out which rifle I want, a Winchester model 70 Featherweight.

It comes in 22-250 and .243. I think 25-06 would probably be a bit much. Since wind can be an issue here I'm thinking that the 243 might be about right. Has anybody had good luck with the 70 grain bullets from a model 70 Featherweight in .243?

Would I really be better off if I went with 22-250 instead? I have never owned a 22-250 but am concerned about lightweight bullets in the wind.

I already have a deer rifle, and I already have a heavy .223 that would be too much to carry around all day.

If you're just killing varmints you'll love the 22-250. I did have a 50gr ballistic tip not penetrate a hogs skull and just knock him out. I switched to the 45gr TSX with a max load of RL-15 and its dropped everything from deer to coons with no problems. On a coyote it'll leave a quarter sized exit wound. The TSX are expensive but worth it. My lightweight 250 has almost no kick and I can watch the animal fall in the scope. If you're going to be shooting a lot of running pigs go with the 243.

243 is perfect. I have shot coyotes with lots of things from a 223 on up. I have used 25-06 a lot, also a Swift. But I love the 243 with an 87 grain VMAX. Fast, flat, and has lots of punch at the end for an old coyote.

I shoot the 58 grainers at around 3850. They're a little more accurate through my Steyr with the 1-12 than my Ruger with the 1-9, they whop a yote pretty good. Went through a bunch of calibers and ended up where I started with the 243.

Either gun will work. But pay attention to what bullets you plan to shoot and get a gun with the appropriate barrel twist rate to handle them.

get the .243 then ream it to 6mm AI 85 gr about 3500fps is bad medicine

Got a plain-Jane Model Seven in .243 for my wife and sighted it in this past weekend. Good ol' Remington Cor-Lokt 85 grainers were tip-top in the accuracy department (less than 3/4" at 100 yards, I think I got VERY lucky). I can't imagine 70-85 grain loads wouldn't be ideal for varmint sized critters at walking around, target-of-opportunity type distances.

I'll bet a Mod. 70 Featherweight in .243 Win. would be a cracker-jack choice for your stated use.

243 is a great varmint rifle but so is a 22-250. Cannot go wrong with either.

I hadn't thought to check before. The Featherweight in 243 has a 10" twist. In 22-250 it has a 14" twist. In either case, the barrel is 22" long.

One of the local pigs showed up on my street a while back. He was a pretty hefty-looking critter and when he saw me, he took off like a rocket. I was grateful that he took off away from me, not toward me as I didn't have so much as a walking stick like I might usually carry with me for unschooled dogs.

After reading the advice here, I think I'll go with the Featherweight in 243 for now, and maybe get a T/C Venture later on in 22-250.

One of the local ranchers here has a Venture in 22-250 that he prefers over some of his pricier firearms. He says that he can't miss with it. After bouncing around on these rocky ranch roads in his Jeep it looks like it has been through WW III, but the scope looks relatively undamaged, so I assume that he has had to replace that at least once.

The 1-10 twist would be a little slow for my tastes. I am one of those deplorable high BC shoot far away guys, plus I nearly always go heavy anyways. I just like the way heavy for caliber bullets perform on game. 87 VMAX would be iffy in that twist because it is actually a pretty long bullet for a varmint bullet. The 70 VMAX would be good to go though, and lots of folks really like it on coyotes.

Also, I really like the option of traditional 100 grain deer bullets too. Like the 100 Sierra Game King or 100 Hornady. Those might be on the edge for a 10 twist as well, something you should check if that is a bullet class that might interest you. A little lighter Partition like the 85 or 95 would be just fine though I imagine if you wanted to go that route, and would work really good for deer/hogs. Not as good as a 115 NBT in a 25-06, lol, but still good.

I guess I won't tell my 1:12 788 that I can no longer shoot the 100 grs, even though it's been doing it just fine for 37 years. A 10 twist should be fine for what he wants to do.

I have a Sako 85 1:10 twist 243. I've shot 90 grain BTs, 87 VLDs, 95 VLDs, and 95 SSTs out of it. It will shoot them all under an inch at 100. I settled on the 95 SSTs because I prefer them over the others on deer and I could find plenty in stock at the time. The 1:10 Winchester should do a good job. For a strict varmint rifle I'd use the 87 VMAX unless you just want to push one as fast as possible then go with 58s. The 87s hit with some authority on pigs.

Sounds like a 10 twist will do just fine then. I was just looking at some of the stability calculators that kind of put it on the edge for a 100 grain boat tail. Just like according to the calculators the 105 AMAX is on the edge for a 9 twist. Lots of folks shoot it out of one and it does great, but some can't.

Note that I didn't say it wouldn't, just that it might be on the edge.

I agree the 87 VMAX is a hammer on coyotes. I love it.

I shot a group of the 105 AMAX out of my Savage Predator Max 1 243 with a 1:9.25 twist and they shot about 1/2" at 100. Not sure what they do at 300 yards but it shows promise at 100 at least.

Should be fine.

I've been shooting the 65 v-max over H414 with pretty good results on varmints and predators. Not good for pelts, but puts coons, cats, coyotes down with authority! Killed plenty of pigs with it as well but shots have been in the earhole.

I use 80 grain Winchester SP's in my .243 for coyote.

I would pick the .243 over the 22-250 unless you can find a 1-9 twist on the 22-250